“It’s done, my lady.”

“Mm. Good work until now. From tonight’s dinner, Apple will be back, so you can return to your usual duties.”

I had given Apple a few days off. I was concerned about Apple crying during the incident with Lady Egritte.

While Apple was resting, a maid named Cinnamon helped me with my tasks, and she did a really good job.

‘In terms of experience, Cinnamon has been here much longer, while Apple is a new maid.’

“My lady, I have something I’d like to say.”

“Yes?”

“How about continuing to use me as your personal maid? Instead of Apple.”

Oh ho, someone skilled and perceptive who’s also proactive in self-promotion.

“How bold. I like that attitude.”

Apple was assigned to me because she was a new maid who didn’t know anything.

Other maids didn’t volunteer to serve me, trying to get on Lady Egritte’s good side.

‘Seeing this, I can really feel that Lady Egritte’s influence has crumbled.’

Is it time to replace them with my own people now?

What a shame. When I first came to the castle and said through Apple that I was actively looking for maids to serve me in the future, no one volunteered. And now there’s finally an applicant.

“Serve me at dinner time tonight along with Apple. Apple will be back this evening. I’ll give you an answer then.”

“Yes.”

Cinnamon smiled confidently. Her face showed unwavering belief that she would soon replace the lady’s personal maid.

And then came dinner time at Inkhart Castle. Apple returned from her vacation.

“Apple, did you rest well?”

“Yes, I rested well thanks to the vacation you gave me, my lady.”

“Look how your cheeks have gotten thinner. If you need more time to recover, make sure to tell me. Understood?”

“No, it’s fine. More importantly, Sister Cinnamon, thank you for serving the lady while I was away.”

“It’s nothing. I just did what any maid in the castle should do.”

Even with someone eyeing her position right in front of her, Apple naively expressed her gratitude.

I just smiled. I could guess how Cinnamon was viewing Apple.

I headed to the dining room with the two maids. Today’s dinner attendees were just Darius and me. But we sat at opposite ends of the 12-person formal dining table.

“Wife, why are you sitting over there?”

“Well, perhaps out of a desire to dine elegantly according to proper etiquette?”

“The food will get cold while going back and forth across this table.”

I snorted.

Just then, Apple clattered as she set down the tableware.

“Ah! I’m sorry!”

Pfft.

Cinnamon, who was helping serve on my side, smirked and quietly arranged the dishes as if to show how a skilled maid should serve.

Oblivious to her competitor showing off her skills, Apple clumsily joined the conversation.

“But I think the lady is being cold to the Grand Duke today. You weren’t like this before.”

“I heard him badmouthing me. So I decided not to be nice to the Grand Duke either.”

“Oh my.”

Apple, who was serving us food, looked back and forth between Darius and me in disbelief.

“The Grand Duke?”

“Mm-hmm. I left my hometown and came all the way to this far northern land just for the Grand Duke. But when I wasn’t around, he told others not to trust me because I’m a suspicious woman.”

“Oh my, I didn’t know the Grand Duke was someone who would say such things!”

Apple quickly removed the croquettes she had placed on Darius’s plate and piled them generously onto my plate.

Nice, Apple!

“That’s right, so I decided to close off my heart. I feel like I’ll only get hurt otherwise.”

As someone preparing for divorce, one should hide their own faults and make the other party the guilty spouse! For a smooth division of assets, it was necessary to imprint on those around us who the bad guy was.

Sniff sniff, I deliberately took out a handkerchief and pretended to wipe away tears. Everyone, I’m the poor wife who came all this way only to be mistreated by my husband.

“Lady Anette came all the way from the south, looking only at the Grand Duke, how could he say such things to you?”

“You understand my heart, Apple. You’re the only one on my side.”

“I don’t think the Grand Duke deserves to dine with you, my lady. You’re not eating well, are you? I’ll prepare something for you separately later.”

Darius, who had been listening to our conversation with a dumbfounded expression, twitched his eyebrows and opened his mouth.

“Apple, you should be helping me.”

“But I’m Lady Anette’s maid, aren’t I? Of course I should follow Lady Anette’s wishes.”

“You were hired as a maid of Inkhart Castle. I’m the one who pays your salary.”

“But I think Lady Anette is my master. I work at Inkhart Castle, but I receive my salary as part of Lady Anette’s household.”

Satisfied with Apple’s answer, I chimed in, suppressing my pleased feelings.

“Are you threatening my loyal maid now, my lord?”

“Of course not.”

“If you’re displeased that this child is taking my side, I’ll pay her salary from my dowry.”

As I pretended to sniffle as if asking if that was unsatisfactory too, Darius smiled bitterly and raised both hands.

“I thought when Apple returned, your mood might improve and I might be forgiven, but I was completely wrong.”

“Since it’s said that one-sided accusations are unfair, shall we ask the remaining person for fairness? There’s one more person here after all.”

Three pairs of eyes turned to Cinnamon.

“Cinnamon, the lord and I are saying different things about the same incident. Whose words do you think are correct?”

“Well, that…”

“Hmm, if Cinnamon takes my side, would it be 2 to 2? It’s a slim chance, but I want to hope since there’s a possibility.”

Cinnamon’s body, which had been smooth while serving, visibly tensed.

One was the lord, and one was the lord’s wife she wanted to curry favor with.

“How could a mere maid interfere in the conversation between the master and mistress?”

Cinnamon chose to avoid answering.

“She says that, Apple?”

“Really? I didn’t know. I still have mountains to learn.”

“I was glad Apple participated in the conversation, so it’s fine. It’s just us, what does it matter?”

I comforted Apple, whose shoulders had slumped at the realization that she was an inadequate maid, as we finished the meal.

* * *

After dinner, I called Cinnamon separately. Cinnamon’s expression was dark.

“You know what I’m going to say without me having to say it, right?”

Whether she was skilled or not wasn’t important. I saw loyalty in Apple and valued that highly.

“I don’t understand. Apple is so slow with her hands…!”

“Work skills can be taught. But some things can’t be taught. For example, innate nature. That’s why it’s precious.”

Cinnamon objected.

“That’s a quick decision. Other people are still wavering, saying how can they show their faces to you now.”

“You think you’re quite clever, but you really don’t know? What values I place higher when looking at people.”

She was a child who had tried to curry favor under Lady Egritte. There was no way she didn’t know what those in higher positions truly valued.

“…How can Apple answer like that? The master of this castle is the lord.”

There were many skilled maids anyway. But cases with irreplaceable special qualities like Apple were rare. That’s why I could overlook other shortcomings.

I patted Cinnamon’s hand.

“If you realize for yourself what you’re asking now, you’ll be able to work by my side too.”

Cinnamon swallowed her frustration and bowed her head.

“Next time, I’ll serve you even more perfectly than now.”

“Alright, I’ll look forward to it.”

Knock knock. There was a sound of someone knocking on the door, and Apple poked her innocent face in.

“Sister Cinnamon. Are you not done talking with the lady yet?”

“We’re done now.”

“Then let’s go to the maid’s quarters together.”

“Yes, both of you rest well.”

Apple, giggling, really didn’t know anything. Cinnamon took a deep breath and said,

“Apple, you know. You should have put down the cutlery quietly without letting them clink. You also got confused about the order of serving food earlier, right? You corrected it right away, but it was all noticeable.”

“Eek, y-yes?”

“Answer only once!”

“Yes!”

“Experience doesn’t matter. You’re Lady Anette’s maid. The most important servant in our castle. No one will cut you slack for being new. So be more careful when you work.”

Apple looked at me with a gaze that seemed to say ‘Why is Sister Cinnamon suddenly acting like this to me? Everything she’s saying is right though,’ but I pretended not to notice. This must be Cinnamon’s way of acknowledging Apple in her own way.

After saying “Let’s go out together sometime” to appease Darius’s mood last time, Darius seemed to quietly want to go out.

But unfortunately, we couldn’t. It was because I was too busy.

“Did you find the original settlement statement from last year? No matter how I look at it, it’s clear they played with the numbers.”

“We found the statement from two years ago, so it must be here. We’ll come across it as we sort through this mountain of documents.”

I thought that if I became the Grand Duchess, I’d be holding parties every day and going to tea parties for power struggles, but why can’t I play?

“Now that Lady Egritte is dead is the perfect time to strike back at those who falsified the books.”

Even in death, Lady Egritte is a problem.

Just because this person died, do you think the bad guys who were hand in hand with her until now would say, “Oh, Lady Egritte, who was our reliable support allowing us to boldly act, has died! Then as an apology, we’ll hand over all the books we’ve been cooking with Lady Egritte until now.” Finding that is ultimately my job.

‘No… to be precise, it’s not my job but the result of me volunteering.’

Lord Daniel dumped another pile of documents on the desk.

“Ah, my lord. Please.”

I covered my face with my hands and wept at the work that showed no signs of ending. The accounting department said that calculations are done by calculators. But here I am, a mere human, doing calculations.